Time to relax

Over the decades, travel and tourism have grown to become one of the world’s largest economic sectors, generating about 10% of world GDP. Tourists became a prominent source of revenue for many people. Furthermore, travelling became so popular that some places in the world, like Venice or Dubrovnik, have to deal with the problem of overtourism.

It’s no wonder that now when travelling from one side of the globe to the other is easier than ever, people go on trips more often. According to the World Tourism Organization’s forecasts, international tourist arrivals will reach 1.8 billion by 2030. And while Europe is still the top tourist destination, Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region in recent years.

What impact do these trends have on Pakistanis? Picodi Analysis Team decided to find out more about the habits and preferences of Pakistani travellers. Read further to learn how often and with whom Pakistanis travel, how much money they spend, what are the top travel destinations and Pakistanis’ approach to organising trips.

Top destinations

According to the survey results, the vast majority of Pakistanis prefer domestic travels over going abroad. 88% of surveyed Pakistanis declared that they would rather spend their holidays in their country when 12% opted for international travels.

Among those who decide to travel abroad, the most popular countries to visit were Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Iran and China. For those who prefer the Pakistani landscape, among the top destinations were Lahore, Karachi and Murree.

Once in a blue moon

When Pakistanis go on their holidays? The shoulder season is gaining its fans around the world since it allows to visit the popular tourist attractions in decent weather and with more affordable prices. Its growing popularity was also noticed by Pakistanis — 28% of respondents declared that they travel during the shoulder season. 46% chose the high season and the remaining 26% prefer to travel during the budget-friendly low season.

The question remains, how much money Pakistanis are willing to pay for their leisure? According to the survey results, an average Pakistani spends Rs 27,083 per travel. However, only 18% of respondents said that they don’t try to save on trips — the rest of them have some smart tricks which make the whole venture more affordable. Among the most popular answers, 38% of surveyed Pakistanis declared that they buy tickets in advance and 35% book their stay ahead of time.

It looks like Pakistanis prefer longer getaways as 46% of respondents claimed their trips last around a week. 31% said that they spend two weeks or more on holidays and 23% less than a week. On the other hand, more than half of surveyed Pakistanis (57%) go on holidays once a year and 22% twice a year or more frequently. 21% of respondents have the opportunity to go on a trip less than once a year.

With whom Pakistanis spend their holidays? Majority of the surveyed travel with their family or partner (51% and 26% respectively). 18% go with friends and only 5% prefer to travel alone.

All by myself

We already know when and where Pakistanis travel but how do they organise their trips? The majority of respondents (80%) prefer to organise everything by themselves while only 20% rely on travel agencies.

The main reasons for self-organised trips pointed out by Pakistanis were the ability to match everything according to preferences (63%) and the cheaper price (31%). Those who travel with agencies mention that it is more comfortable (46%) and saves time (29%).

Explore the unknown

We asked Pakistanis whether they prefer to go somewhere new or re-visit their favourite places. The results show that most of them (76%) would rather explore new places and only one-fourth of respondents (24%) chose to go back to places they already know.

When it comes to organising a trip, are there any differences between women’s and men’s attitude? It turns out that women are more spontaneous in the matter of organising journeys. Nevertheless, most people prefer to plan in advance — 61% of men and 51% of women.

Sunbathing on the ravishing Bali beaches, exploring the old alleys of Paris or surfing the waves of the Australian coast? When asked about the favourite way of spending holidays, almost half of the Pakistani respondents (41%) chose active rest, for example mountain climbing, as their favourite activity. It was followed by sightseeing (39%) and the least popular — lying on a beach (20%).

When in Rome, do as the Romans do – the old proverb says. However, there are different approaches when travelling, especially when it comes to means of transportation or food. Among the surveyed Pakistanis, 38% chose a rental car as their favourite way of transportation, followed by taxi (31%) and local public transport (27%). As for food, 42% look for places that serve familiar dishes, 39% try local cuisine and 13% take food with them.

In theory, taking a holiday is a way to rest from work. However, sometimes it’s impossible to break free from incoming calls or emails. It turns out that 40% of surveyed Pakistanis are willing to perform job-related tasks during their holidays.

Around the world

We asked travellers from 39 countries how much money they spend on average per holiday. Based on the answers, we prepared a ranking which indicates the biggest spenders.

An average Pakistani spends Rs 27,083 per person on a holiday, which converted into USD amounts to $191. It places Pakistan in the last place of the ranking. Other frugal travellers come from Indonesia and the Philippines — they spend $207 and $252 respectively.

Australians spend the most money on holidays — $1,505 per holiday. They are followed by Hongkongers and Finns.

How to save money while on holidays?

By organising your holiday trip on your own you can save a lot of money. For example, by booking your accomodation through Ebookers, Booking.com, Vueling or Etihad Airways, you can earn cashback that can be withdrawn and spent on other things, such as food or attractions. All you have to do is create a Picodi account and enable the cashback feature before booking your place to stay.

Methodology

This report is based on the survey conducted in April and May 2019 among over 20 000 respondents from 41 countries. For the currency conversion, the average exchange for May 2019 was used.

Sources

• https://www.wttc.org/economic-impact/
• https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/overtourism-solutions/index.html
• https://unwto.org/why-tourism

Public Use

Are you willing to share the information and infographics about holidays in Pakistan and around the world with your readers? Feel free to use all the data and infographics presented in this report for both commercial and non-commercial purposes as long as you indicate the author of the research (Picodi.com) with a link to this subpage.